House Speaker Paul Ryan touts lower taxes in Boeing visit

House Speaker Paul Ryan talks with Boeing Co. employees while on a tour of the airplane factory, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017, in Everett, Wash. Ryan toured the factory before speaking with and taking questions from some of the workers, mostly on tax reform. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis. rubs his head as he takes a question while meeting with Boeing workers, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017, in Everett, Wash. President Donald Trump lashed out at Republican leaders in Congress, suggesting efforts to increase the country's borrowing limit to avoid an economic-rattling default on the nation's debt are "a mess!" (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Boeing Co. CEO Dennis Muilenburg, right, sits with House Speaker Paul Ryan on a small stage on the 777 line as they meet with Boeing workers, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017, in Everett, Wash. Ryan toured the factory before speaking with and taking questions from some of the workers, mostly on tax reform. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

House Speaker Paul Ryan speaks to workers at the Boeing Co. and in view of a Rolls Royce Trent 1000 engine for a 787 jet, behind, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017, in Everett, Wash. Ryan toured the factory before speaking with and taking questions from some of the workers, mostly on tax reform. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

By Associated Press

Published: August 24, 2017, 12:57 PM

EVERETT — House Speaker Paul Ryan toured the Boeing plant in Everett, answered workers’ questions on a variety of matters and pitched the Republican plan to cut taxes for corporations.

Ryan said reducing the tax rate for businesses and simplifying the tax code for individuals will spur economic growth.

State lawmakers agreed in 2003 to reduce the business and occupation tax rate paid by Boeing and the company will save about $8 billion by 2040. But Boeing cut 6,344 jobs in 2016 and is down roughly 4,000 in 2017. Democratic lawmakers and aerospace workers have tried, without success, to require that Boeing sustain a minimum number of jobs in the state if it wants to keep the lower tax rate.

About a dozen protesters gathered outside the Boeing plant to mark Ryan’s visit.